§115. Influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a Federal official by threatening or injuring a family member

(a)(1) Whoever-

(A) assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts to kidnap or murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap or murder a member of the immediate family of a United States official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under section 1114 of this title; or

(B) threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United States official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under such section,

with intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official, judge, or law enforcement officer while engaged in the performance of official duties, or with intent to retaliate against such official, judge, or law enforcement officer on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

(2) Whoever assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts to kidnap or murder a member of the immediate family of any person who formerly served as a person designated in paragraph (1), with intent to retaliate against such person on account of the performance of official duties during the term of service of such person, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

(b)(1) An assault in violation of this section shall be punished as provided in section 111 of this title.

(2) A kidnapping or attempted kidnapping in violation of this section shall be punished as provided in section 1201 of this title for the kidnapping or attempted kidnapping of a person described in section 1201(a)(5) of this title.

(3) A murder or attempted murder in violation of this section shall be punished as provided in sections 1111 and 1113 of this title.

(4) A threat made in violation of this section shall be punished by a fine under this title or imprisonment for a term of not more than five years, or both, except that imprisonment for a threatened assault shall not exceed three years.

(c) As used in this section, the term-

(1) "Federal law enforcement officer" means any officer, agent, or employee of the United States authorized by law or by a Government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of Federal criminal law;

(2) "immediate family member" of an individual means-

(A) his spouse, parent, brother or sister, child or person to whom he stands in loco parentis; or

(B) any other person living in his household and related to him by blood or marriage;

(3) "United States judge" means any judicial officer of the United States, and includes a justice of the Supreme Court and a United States magistrate; and

(4) "United States official" means the President, President-elect, Vice President, Vice President-elect, a Member of Congress, a member-elect of Congress, a member of the executive branch who is the head of a department listed in 5 U.S.C. 101, or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

(Added Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §1008(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2140 ; amended Pub. L. 99–646, §§37(a), 60, Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3599 , 3613; Pub. L. 100–690, title VI, §6487(f)[b], Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4386 ; Pub. L. 101–647, title XXXV, §3508, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4922 ; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §§330016(2)(C), 330021(1), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148 , 2150.)

Amendments

1994-Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 103–322, §330021(1), substituted "kidnapping" for "kidnaping" in two places.

Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 103–322, §330016(2)(C), substituted "fine under this title" for "fine of not more than $5,000".

1990-Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 101–647 substituted "the Central" for "The Central".

1988-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–690 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: "Whoever assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts to kidnap or murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap or murder a member of the immediate family of a United States official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under section 1114 of this title, or threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United States official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under such section with intent to impede, intimidate, interfere with, or retaliate against such official, judge or law enforcement officer while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b)."

1986-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–646, §60, substituted "section 1114 of this title, or threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United States official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under such section" for "18 U.S.C. 1114, as amended,", "while engaged" for "while he is engaged", and "official duties" for "his official duties".

Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 99–646, §37(a), inserted "for the kidnapping or attempted kidnapping of a person described in section 1201(a)(5) of this title".

Change of Name

Reference to United States magistrate or to magistrate deemed to refer to United States magistrate judge pursuant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 21, 2516, 4243 of this title.